Flyleaf, with new singer in mix, heads to Cleveland's House of Blues with Drowning Pool

The music industry is hard enough without adding new hurdles into a career.

Just as a teen singer must make the difficult leap from bubble-gum material to mature songs, the other common difficulty involves bands maintaining their success after changing lead singers.

The latter scenario is exactly where Christian rock act Flyleaf finds itself. Out is original front woman Lacey Sturm, and in is Kristen May, formerly of the band Vedera.

"We found out (about Sturm's departure) in October 2011," said guitarist Sameer Bhattacharya, calling from Philadelphia. "I think we were all expecting it because she had slowly been more and more distant with the band. So when her husband called to tell us that she quit, I think none of us were surprised."

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Earlier that year Sturm had given birth to her first child. While the news may not have been surprising, what followed definitely was. Even though Bhattacharya doesn't agree, it seems odd that Sturm quit via her husband only to agree a month later to return to the band to record an album. Whatever the case, the act had already written songs for a follow-up to "Memento Mori," which debuted at No. 8 on the charts and included hit song "Again." The new effort is the aptly titled "New Horizons."

"We all felt these songs were too important not to record," Bhattacharya said. "All of the songs have a really powerful message in them. That was an option, having someone else do the record, but I think we felt like it would be best to do the songs like we planned."

New horizons indeed for rock act Flyleaf. Bhattacharya believes the album paints the band in a different sonic light, with dynamic songs such as "Cage on the Ground," "Green Heart" and the title track, which also acted as the album's lead single. Specifically, he feels producer Howard Benson was able to create enveloping and ethereal guitar songs that provided a cinematic feeling to the music.

Flyleaf is on the road touring the new album. The group is scheduled to perform March 6 at the House of Blues. As for May's transition, Bhattacharya said the band likes the vocal fragility she brings to the mix.

When asked about the crowd reaction to May, Bhattacharya's answer seems to instead answer what the band atmosphere was with Sturm prior to her departure.

"It's been pretty amazing," Bhattacharya said. "They're really loving Kristen and what she brings to the band. There's this carefree spirit on stage. It's been a long time since we had this much fun on stage."

What remains to be seen is what happens going forward. Will Flyleaf's future be more like Van Halen when it lost David Lee Roth, added Sammy Hagar and didn't miss a beat, or more like the disastrous firing of Hagar and hiring of Extreme singer Gary Cherone?

Bhattacharya avoids the question of future success by taking a more faith-based approach to Flyleaf going forward.

"Success is relative," Bhattacharya said. "For us, it's the message in the songs. Are people relating to the songs and are they feeling the message of hope and redemption that's in them? That's the most important thing. People come to the shows and say what we're doing really changed their life. That's how we gauge our success. Not really by anything else."